A New Job
by Dysentia
Summary: The Village sends two Ninja after receiving a Distress call from Eishun Konoe. Little do they know, the Mission has Changed. On Indefinite Hiatus until further notice
1. Chapter 1

The train station in downtown Kyoto was busy as it ever was, even when somebody shouted at the top of their lungs. As such, someone actually did just that.

"HELLO KYOTO!" The blonde teenager announced as he prepared to step onto the platform, earning rather shocking looks from passers-by. A nearby usher quickly asked him to be quiet, which he simply waved it off. Stepping off, the teen ran his hair through his spiky –unruly hair. "Man, that lady was mean." The blonde complained, turning to his companion.

"Can you blame her? Your shouting practically scared everyone around us." The other boy reasoned, fighting the urge to hit his friend over the head. The blonde merely scratched his neck, a habit that showed when he was embarrassed. It quickly stopped however, as the blonde turned on his heel and started to walk.

"Let's split here Shikamaru. Give me a call when you get to the hotel." He offered in his carefree tone. The other teen, now known as Shikamaru, quickly spoke up.

"Wait a sec, Naruto." He ordered, making his retreating friend stop and look back. "Before you head off let's review real quick, alright? I wanna make sure you got everything down."

Naruto suppressed a sigh before speaking. "I've got everything down already. We reviewed plenty on the way here." He insisted. "It's like, three simple things. Check in, make contact, do the job and we're done."

"I'm not just talking about the plan here, Naruto. Don't forget that we are in foreign territory now." Shikamaru reminded in a hushed tone. Naruto nearly scoffed.

"To you maybe, but I've been in this world plenty of times before." The blonde quickly stated, matching Shikamaru's hushed tone.

"Doesn't matter. As acting leader of the mission I have a responsibility to keep us alive. And that means making sure you're prepared." The lazy teen said with surprising firmness in his voice. "I'm just watching out for you man."

Naruto kept a smile on his lips whilst listening to Shikamaru. It really meant a lot to him that there were people who actually cared about him. His smile was soon replaced by a confidant grin.

"If that's the case then don't worry about it. I'll be fine." A show of true determination flashed through his blue eyes as he continued. "I'm the Future Hokage after all!"

'Even though I'm still a Genin.' Naruto mentally added.

"And besides, I'm strong enough to take on anything!" He proclaimed. Seeing no argument from his teammate, Naruto turned and started walking. "Well then, I'm going this way, alright? See ya Shikamaru."

'That guy… He's completely letting his guard down. What if and enemy Shinobi jumps him or worse and enemy Mage from the Kansai Magic Association…' Shikamaru thought, watching the blonde disappear into the crowd. His thought rounded onto the village leader, and he suddenly became very, very grave. 'The Hokage will kill me if that happens!'

"Naruto, Wait up!" Shikamaru called out, causing the blonde to once again stop and turn around.

"Eh? What about the hotel?" He asked, a puzzled look stretched over his face.

"We'll worry about that later. For now, I'm sticking with you, so let's get moving."

Meanwhile, on another platform another train was just departing. Its passengers included travellers, tourists and roughly one hundred and fifty middle-school students from a prestigious boarding academy near Tokyo. Surprisingly, most of the students turned out to be sleeping once the train got going.

* * *

><p>"So we're supposed to check with the Kansai Magic Association's boss about what exactly?" Naruto asked starting to get bored with the path they were going through. Off to his side, Shikamaru sighed for the millionth time that day.<p>

"I don't know, The Hokage said that he'd tell us when we got there. Seemed pretty damn urgent when we got the message, came in on the emergency channel." Shikamaru answered, relaying what he was told.

"And how long ago was that?" Naruto questioned, sounding a little annoyed.

"According to the Hokage, It was a week ago at home, but in this world, roughly a day and a half." Shikamaru said, now more than a little bored. "Doesn't matter, we got here as fast as we could."

"You'd think that from an urgent message, there'd be more stuff going on." Naruto wondered out loud. "It's too quiet, too peaceful."

"The Kansai Magic Association seems like the kind of organisation that is kept secret from the public." The lazier of the two suggested. "I doubt that mages are public knowledge, seeing as everything is technology based."

The rest of the walk was spent in silence as they walked along the empty pathway.

Upon reaching the end, the path opened up into a large courtyard where the cherry blossom trees were blooming. Amongst it all, two lines of shrine maidens greeted them and led them into the actual structure. Once inside, they were instructed to kneel on the cushions in the middle of the large room. They both shared a glance as they did so.

They both knew that the archers on either side of the room were not the largest threat. They kept their hands near their hidden kunai, ready to act on a moment's notice. Everyone else in the room went completely silent as a lone figure started descending the stairs.

"Thank you for waiting Shinobi." The figure spoke, still descending the stairs. "I also thank you for responding, but it seems that your mission parameters have changed."

It was just then that the two Ninja got a good look at the man. The long flowing robes of a priest and aging face were hard to dismiss. "I am Eishun Konoe, the head of the Kansai Magic Association." The robed man introduced himself. "May I ask your names?"

"Shikamaru Nara, Chunin of The Village Hidden in the Leaves and team leader." The shadow user spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." The blonde responded.

"If you two would accompany me to my office, I will explain the rather, delicate, situation." Eishun offered turning on his heel and walking back up the stairs. Shikamaru gave another sigh before picking up himself up to follow the man. Naruto was surprisingly quiet again and Shikamaru couldn't place its origin, even though it has happened before, always during missions and never during the down-time. Every single time it made Shikamaru nervous, like something wasn't right with the world. For the time being, he put that train of thought on hold. He really needed to focus on the mission.

Bowing and kneeling before the Magic Association's Chief, Shikamaru and Naruto began to listen.

"Two nights ago, the association was attacked by a rogue member and their unknown accomplice." Eishun began. "Thankfully, the crisis was averted, thanks to a visiting western mage and his partners. The objective of the attack was to kidnap my daughter Konoka Konoe."

"If I may ask, why were the attackers after your daughter?" Shikamaru interjected.

"Yeah, seems like a lot of trouble to go through for one girl." Naruto added.

"My daughter has incredible magical potential, possibly even more than the Thousand Master." The chief admitted, earning astounded looks from the two Shinobi. "They wanted to use that potential to take over the East and eliminate the West. Their first step, as I was told, was to summon The Four-armed, Two-faced Demon god 'Ryoumen'."

Naruto felt something akin to a chuckle in the back of his mind. Apparently his guest found that summoning Ryoumen amusing.

"Thankfully, it was defeated before it could do any damage." Eishun finished.

"Just how was it defeated?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I am not at liberty to reveal that information."

Shikamaru's face twisted into a grimace, 'different question then.' "Why brief us if the mission is already complete?"

"As I have told you, the mission parameters have changed." Eishun once again told them. "As the recent attack as shown, my daughter might not be as safe as I once thought. So your new objective is to guard her until I deem your services no longer needed."

"It sounds like you want our services for at least a few months, if not a year or two." The team leader stated, seemingly considering it. "If that's the case, we'll have to run it by the Hokage for permission and that could take a while."

"Not necessarily, I still have my summons. It would take a half-hour at most." Naruto offered.

"Do it."

* * *

><p>Roughly three hours later, the two Shinobi stepped off the train into Mahora Academy. The Hokage had approved the mission, for a monthly fee of course.<p>

Walking out of the station, Naruto and Shikamaru took in the sight of Mahora Academy in the evening sunlight. From their position, the sun was directly behind the World Tree, making the light randomly flitter over the streets.

The two teens barely walked down the street when they felt eyes on them. At first they ignored it, but the intensity of the gaze only grew when they approached the Main school building. As they passed an alley way, the blonde briefly pressed his hand on the brick wall while walking. Not long after, Shikamaru only gave a glance at Naruto, who nodded once before vanishing mid-stride.

* * *

><p>The two teens were definitely suspicious. That is all that Takane D. Goodman needed to know. Suspicious always meant dangerous in her books and she was pretty sure that some of the teachers would agree. She never noticed the strange four-character symbol on the wall she was hiding behind.<p>

She was just about to move to confront them when she saw the blonde one nod to the bored-looking one. Immediately afterwards, she was pinned to the alley wall with a triple-pronged dagger at her throat. Shoving aside her fear, Takane glared at her attacker. Her eyes widened in shock when she recognised him. It was the blonde one that she was tailing just now.

"What are you planning?" She demanded. Using all her willpower to glare into the blonde's gleaming eyes.

"We are here for a job, nothing more and nothing less." He responded cheerfully. "My friend is on his way to talk to the head, after that I reckon that we'll be on the same side. See you around, beautiful." He said with a wink, before vanishing again. Takane could do nothing but let her cheeks flush as he mind ran through what he said.

* * *

><p>Naruto reappeared right next to Shikamaru, a grin plastered on his face.<p>

"Don't tell me." The Nara sighed. "It was a pretty girl and you couldn't help but flirt."

"Damn straight." Naruto chuckled. "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

* * *

><p>AN: Hey Guys, this is just a new one since I don't think that MSS is as good as it could be. This was inspired by some of Panda-kun77's drawings, which included Shikamaru and Naruto departing from a train.<p>

Don't worry I've already asked him for permission and he's okay with it.

Now for other issues.

First chapter is short, don't worry! Hopefully I can make future chapters around the 5k+ mark again.

Yes I write in the traditional way, no surnames before the given name and any Japanese titles or suffixes unless it's required. You have probably gathered from this that I like the Dubbed versions of Naruto and Negima!

Don't like it? Then tough, that's how I'm gonna write this story.

See ya next time!


	2. Chapter 2

"So you're the two my son-in-law hired to protect Konoka, huh?" Konoemon asked, stroking his long beard and absent-mindedly massaging his brow. "Very well, if my son-in-law deems you worthy, then who am I to judge?"

Shikamaru spoke up. "We'll make sure that your trust is not misplaced, Konoe-dono. But if we are to stay in the immediate area, for Konoka's protection, we will need to discuss living arrangements."

"Yeah, Ninja need to sleep too!" Naruto agreed from his seat next to him.

"Well, there is one spare dorm room available…" Konoemon drifted off, deciding whether or not to tell them.

"We'll take it then, wherever it is, has to be better than sleeping in trees." Shikamaru shivered when he remembered that one time he had to share a branch with Choji. Every time the guy moved he fell off.

Konoemon could only smile and imagine their surprise when they arrive there. Naruto on the other hand, didn't like the smile. It reminded him of Konohamaru just before a really cruel prank.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the two Shinobi found themselves walking through the dormitories with Naruto complaining too loudly.<p>

"I just know that this job is going to be bad news. I mean, we arrive in Kyoto after a three hour train ride, only to be directed here on another long train ride. What's next? Are they gonna send us to England or something?" The blonde complained, stretching his stiff muscles.

"England? Where's that?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's a series of islands north-east of Europe." Naruto answered.

'Just how many times has he been here!' Shikamaru thought.

"Ok this is it." Naruto announced, standing in front of a blank door. Sliding the key in and unlocking it, he took his first step into what would be home for a while. One cursory glance and he let out a low whistle. "This is bigger than my place back home!"

Behind him, Shikamaru could only sigh as Naruto started checking the entire place out.

**_Click_**

Shikamaru suddenly turned his head around to find that nothing in the hallway had changed. Tearing his gaze away from the empty corridor, he stepped into the dorm and closed the door.

Once the door fully closed, every other door in the hall burst open, revealing several teenage girls around the age of fifteen. Immediately they began to gossip about the two boys that had just arrived.

"Oh my god, who were those guys?" One bespectacled girl asked excitedly. "They were so much hotter than the ones at school."

"Do you think they're here as teachers like Negi-sensei?" Another asked.

"Nah, a ten-year-old teacher is still a little hard to accept."

"Well they're not students; the blonde one said that they were on a job." A red head chimed in.

"Ooh, maybe they're secret agents for the government sent here to guard a secret daughter of the Emperor!" A small pink-haired girl suggested.

"Or they could actually be under-cover Ninjas hired by the Dean to protect the students!" The tallest girl said, earning strange looks from everyone else. Then they all started giggling, save for the two smallest.

"Yeah right, Ninjas don't exist anymore!"

* * *

><p>Inside the dormitory, things weren't that much different.<p>

"Dibs on the top-bunk!" Naruto all but shouted, prompting Shikamaru to shake his head.

"This is going to be such a drag." He sighed.

Suddenly, Naruto's sharp ears picked up the sound of muffled giggling.

"Did you hear that?" Naruto asked.

"Hear what?"

"Just thought I heard someone, _giggling_." He insisted, just before sneezing loudly. "Guess someone's talking about me."

"I'm going to bed."

* * *

><p>In the early morning, only one person woke from their sleep. And even then it was from a pretty loud alarm clock, which coincidentally caused another of the inhabitants of the room to stir.<p>

Asuna Kagurazaka stretched her muscles as she yet out a stretched out yawn and proceeded to climb down from her bunk and get dressed.

"Asuna, is it time for the paper-route already?" Her roommate, Konoka Konoe, asked tiredly.

"Yeah, sorry to wake you." Asuna apologised, already putting on her pink jacket. "I don't know how Negi can sleep through it though." She muttered, taking notice of a bowl of chocolates on the kitchen counter.

Konoka gave a short giggle before answering. "Maybe it's because he's still a kid." Asuna popped one of the chocolates into her mouth before answering.

"I guess so. I'm heading out now, see you in an hour." Asuna waved goodbye before closing the door.

A few minutes after leaving the building, she ran straight into someone as she rounded the corner to where the print house was. The red-head was sent sprawling towards the cold ground. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain to arrive. Yet it never came.

The only new feeling was of two warm arms holding her from under her shoulders and waist.

Cracking her eyes open to see what happened, Asuna saw that she was face to face with a boy that was no younger than she was. Her mind immediately took note of the boy's unruly spiked blonde hair, deep blue eyes filled with concern and strange black lines on his cheeks.

"Phew, caught you just in time." The boy spoke, his voice laced with relief.

* * *

><p>Naruto leapt out of the window and into the early morning breeze, relishing the rush of the cold air. He had a job to do, for now he had to let Shikamaru track down and protect Konoka. He was to blend in, learn the area and secure funds. When they arrived, they only had enough to afford the one train ride to Kyoto and Eishun was kind enough to pay for the trip to Mahora, but now they needed some money to operate, especially if it was for a long term mission.<p>

Luckily they appealed to the Dean, and he offered them part-time jobs around the campus, as well as offering them temp jobs when the need arose.

Naruto was given an early morning paper route, which he agreed to. He was already planning to keep up his fitness regime, and now he was going to get paid to do it as well.

Shikamaru was to teach a Mediation class on Thursdays and Fridays. Naruto figured it suited the Nara well; he did always like to watch clouds after all.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto noticed that he was approaching the printing house. Once he was only a street away, he fell to ground level and walked over to introduce himself.

"Hello." He called out, reaching the door. He was soon greeted by a man who was still holding his coffee.

"Yes?" The man answered, a little curious as to why the teen was here.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," The blonde answered, thinking that it would be enough to convince the paper-man. Apparently not, since the man just stared at him, silently demanding him to continue. "The Dean said that you'd have a route for me?" Naruto elaborated, now a bit unsure of the middle-aged man.

And yet still the man gazed at him, his eyes not wavering. Naruto on the other hand was starting to feel very uncomfortable under the studying stare. If it were a combat situation, the teen would've simply flung a Kunai at the man. But it wasn't a combat situation, so his hands were simply tied.

Just when Naruto thought he would snap and start shouting like an idiot, the man broke out into a smile.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Jusuke Takayanagi." The man suddenly shoved two shoulder bags into Naruto's hands. "You'll be taking Mahora's Eastern side, usually that's my route, so don't mess up."

"What about the West side?" Naruto asked, finding it hard to juggle the two heavy bags.

"Our other runner is taking care of that." Jusuke waved off, before pointing down the street. "Now get going, people expect their paper when they wake up."

Stifling a yawn, Naruto took off with in a jog. He was about to turn out of the street when he crashed into another person.

The impact made him stumble a bit, but being the Ninja he was, Naruto quickly regained his footing. He caught a fleeting glimpse of the one that ran into him and noticed that she was falling backwards. Just as fast as he regained his footing, he caught them by snaking his arms around their waist and shoulders.

A moment passed as he calmed down and finally took note of who he just saved.

The first thing he noticed was her hair. The girl had her relatively long hair tied up into two ponytails, held in place by two sets of bells attached to ribbons. The actual colour was one of his admitted favourites, a deep reddish-orange. Her bangs framed her face in such a way that looked perfect in his opinion.

It was just then that she hesitantly cracked an eye open to see what happened. He had to admit, her eyes were deep. He felt like he could just look into them and forget all about his problems.

Once both her eyes were fully open, he gave a soft smile and sighed with relief.

"Phew, caught you just in time."

"Wh-wha?" Asuna stammered, blinking a few times to try and convince herself that she wasn't dreaming. The boy holding her up gave a short chuckle to her confusion, causing her to blush from mild embarrassment. She did have to admit, the guy was pretty cute, but she somehow doubted that he was as refined and a gentleman like Takahata-sensei is.

With one pull, he had her right on her feet, where she noticed that he was a full head taller than her. She looked up to face him, but quickly ducked her head to hide her deepening blush when she felt that his arms were still holding her. With another cursory glance, she noticed that her hands were resting on his biceps and were refusing to move.

"U-um, could you please let go?" She meekly asked. 'Where the hell did that come from?' She silently added.

Naruto, for his part, blanched as he realised that he was indeed still holding onto her.

"Sorry, I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzu- Uhh I mean Namikaze." He introduced himself with a weak grin and a bow. He hoped that she wouldn't pry about his hesitation.

"Asuna Kagurazaka." She said, recovering her voice and returning the bow.

"Nice meeting you Asuna, hope to see you again." Naruto said stepping around her and proceeding to jog ahead.

"Yeah, you too," She called after him, offering a short wave.

Asuna shook her head clear, as Naruto left her sight. She picked up her pace towards the print house where Yusuke was packing his truck with various parcels.

"Sorry I'm late."

* * *

><p>It was roughly midday when Shikamaru stirred from his blissful sleep. Sadly for him, the cause of his awakening was coming from the next dorm over, so it he'd actually have to move to make the noise stop. Now back in the Hidden Leaf Village, there was an often uttered saying… or warning depending on the context.<p>

Let a Sleeping Nara Lie.

* * *

><p>After Asuna finished her paper route, she returned home and promptly fell asleep in her bed. The actual amount of sleep she got was more comparable to a nap, but she still dreamt.<p>

The dream in particular involved a man who looked suspiciously like Takahata-sensei, only older and wiser. There was someone else there, but they remained out of focus. All she could tell of the person was that they had bright spiky hair and a flowing coat. Then another entered the picture, the very image of said person made her wake up instantly. It was Negi's father, Nagi Springfield the Thousand Master.

Asuna woke with a start, suddenly springing into a sitting position with a slight pant. Getting her bearings, she looked around. Currently the only occupant of the dorm was Negi, who was over in his little alcove of a room above the closet. After a quick stretch, Asuna jumped the slight gap between their beds and looked over Negi's shoulder. "What'cha doing?" She asked, startling the pre-teen teacher.

"Ahh, Asuna, please don't do that again." The kid pleaded, before turning back to his little desk.

"Sorry, Negi, so what are you doing?" Asuna asked once more.

"I'm looking at the clue from the Chief." Negi answered enthusiastically. "It turned out to be stacks of maps for Mahora. This is what Father was researching last time he was there."

"Seriously? A map of Mahora Academy?"

"Yeah, don't know what he was looking for though, it's all written in code." Negi explained, a smile plastered on his face. "I thought I'd try to decode it, but…"

Asuna noticed the change in the boy's mood, it was a bit refreshing. "You look unusually cheerful today, any reason for that?" She asked with a pointed finger on her chin.

"Well, it was hard work in Kyoto, fighting all those tough people. But now that we've found Father's home and a clue…" He trailed off for a bit, looking for the right words. "It's like I have the best motivation to work even harder now.

"Thanks to it, I've got a whole heap of things that I'm planning to do. I still have my duties as a Teacher so it's gonna be a bit tough, I'll do my best to get through it all, just you watch Asuna." Negi finished with a grin and thumbs up.

As soon as Negi posed, another image flashed before the girl's eyes, it was from her dream. Nagi did the almost exact same thing.

"Uhh, Asuna?" Negi cautiously asked, waving his hand in front of her eyes. Pretty soon she came back around and shook her head clear. "Something wrong?"

Asuna merely shook her head and started walking to the kitchen. "No nothing's wrong."

Just as she reached the kitchenette however, all hell broke loose. It started with a simple doorbell.

**_Ding-Dong_**

Not a second after it rang, the door burst open to reveal the Class representative Ayaka Yukihiro and Kazumi Asakura of the News club.

"Sorry to intrude Negi-sensei. But since it's Sunday why don't drink some tea together?" Ayaka announced, Kazumi simply smiling amusedly at the display.

Asuna immediately voiced her disapproval, to no avail of course, and was about to demand that Ayaka and Kazumi leave when more people arrived.

Makie Sasaki, Yuuna Akashi, Ako Izumi and Akira Okochi all ran in with the former two announcing that they all had the day off from sports club and wanted to play with Negi.

Those four where followed by the Cheerleader Trio, which consisted of Sakurako Shiina, Madoka Kugimiya and Misa Kakizaki, who all announced their intention of going out to a Karaoke Bar.

This was also followed by the arrival of the pink-haired Narutaki twins, Fuuka and Fumika. They wanted Negi to play Ninja with them.

The last to arrive was Konoka Konoe, who immediately began fretting about being a good hostess.

With all of the commotion inside the room, Asuna was beginning to feel her patience stretch. She was going to shout and force all of them out of the dorm, but someone else beat her to the punch.

With force that only Asuna was known to have, the hallway door was flung open and threatened to break off the hinges. Standing in the now open doorway was a teenage boy, most of who recognised from the previous night, and he was livid. The girls and Negi could practically see the angry flames surrounding around the teen.

"Shut up! People are trying to- eh?" Shikamaru paused, seeing as most of the occupants were female. Giving a dejected sigh, he slinked off muttering something that sounded like 'Troublesome girls,' and 'Such a drag to yell'.

The whole room was silent for a full minute, shocked at the intrusion. Once the girls resumed their attention vying for Negi, Asuna threw them all out.

"They can't even calm down on a Sunday!" Asuna sighed once they were gone.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey guys, Sorry for the long wait. Don't worry I'll try to get back in the groove soon enough. But I'd suggest to not expecting an update for a while, writing is a secondary priority to me.<p>

Shikamaru OOC- Yes I know that he may seem a little OoC this chapter, but Shikamaru and his dad don't strike me as people who wake up happy, seeing as they like sleeping.

Their 'Cover Jobs'- It's something original at least. Seeing as 75% of the NegimaxNaruto fics have Naruto being an assistant of some sort.

Naruto's hesitance- I'll elaborate on the backstory in future chapters, feel free to speculate however.

Naruto Knows Hiraishin? - Yes, Hopefully before this chapter has been posted I'll have added something to that particular scene.

Negima Timeline- Right after the Kyoto Arc.

Until Next time faithful readers!


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